The Basque Country presents Urban Klima 2050 as an example of effective action for climate resilience at the World Bank Innovative4Climate conference
26/05/2023
The Regions4 network chaired by the Basque Country has organised a session on funding for climate adaptation and protecting biodiversity at a local level.
Adolfo Uriarte, General Manager of Natural Heritage and Climate Change of the Basque Government, highlighted “the importance of own funding together with funding obtained through the LIFE programme for implementing Urban Klima 2050”.
The Basque Country singled out the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project as an example of good practices related to climate resilience at the World Bank's annual global Innovate4Climate conference. The event was held at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Barakaldo between May 23 and 25 to provide solutions on funding, markets and investment and climate markets.
As part of Innovate4Climate, the international Regions4 network, which represents 47 regions from 21 countries and is chaired by the Basque Country, organised a parallel session on funding for climate adaptation and protecting biodiversity at a local and regional level entitled ‘Unlocking funding for climate adaptation and action on biodiversity at a local and regional level’, in collaboration with the Government of Catalonia. Adolfo Uriarte, General Manager of Natural Heritage and Climate Change of the Basque Government, and Alexander Boto, General Manager of Ihobe, the Basque Government's public environmental management company, who moderated the panel, took part in the round table.
During his speech, Uriarte highlighted the Basque Country’s work “in developing effective actions and funding replicable solutions for climate resilience”, taking the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project as an example of “good practices”. In this context, the General Manager of Natural Heritage and Climate Change stressed "the importance of own funding, which together with the European funding obtained through the LIFE programme, has made it possible to design and implement the project". He also underlined the importance of strong support from knowledge creators. “We can move in the right direction with the support of science,” he said.
The challenges and opportunities of climate change
Climate change and loss of biodiversity pose financial challenges and opportunities that need to be tackled to ensure that global goals and commitments are met.
Regional governments, such as those grouped together in Regions4, are key actors in enabling and driving the transitions required towards climate resilience. As interlocutors between local and global actors, they are the institutional link that enables broader territorial approaches that bridge the urban-rural divide. Regional governments have close, functional relationships with actors and citizens and are therefore in a unique position to drive innovative solutions.
Unlocking funding for action remains a key obstacle to ensuring climate resilience and protecting ecosystems. The need for rapid, transformative action at all levels of government is clear. This means prioritising the decentralisation of funding opportunities and the availability of financial tools at a regional level.
In addition to Adolfo Uriarte and Alexander Boto, the workshop organised by Regions4 was also attended by Leo Bejarano, head of the Catalan Climate Change Office of the Government of Catalonia; Augustin Maria, representing the World Bank's City Climate Finance Gap Fun; Iñigo López Tapia, head of Capital Markets and Investor Relations at Kutxabank; and Carla Orrego, Transformative Finance Manager of the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Change of the CPI (Climate Policy Initiative).
